Here we are at the main exit from JR Akihabara. In front over there is the great, all-powerful Sato Musen. They don't have any games, so don't worry about that (they do have AV Famicoms, but so does every other store around here). Even if you don't enter Sato, though, you'll remember the place long afterwards for the constant Sato Musen theme tune that blasts through their speakers - you can hear it on the above link if you have Shockwave.

Watch out - I recommend wearing earmuffs or something around this area. If you don't make necessary precautions, you'll have the Sato Musen tune in your head for the rest of your life. Akihabara is a dangerous place after all.

To the right is a side street filled with various street vendors selling various things - fast-talking guys in their sixties give demonstrations of kitchen knives or automatic cheese graters in front of unappreciative crowds. Even older guys reading horse-racing newspapers (the same type of guys we saw over in Kyoto) sit next to stands featuring topless-model calendars. And so on.

Before we head to the main street of Akiba, let's try one of the tiny side alleys..